Democrats boycott first day of Minnesota House session, but GOP votes to appoint speaker anyway

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – House Democrats boycotted the opening day of Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session Tuesday in an effort to prevent Republicans from using a temporary majority to advance their agenda, but GOP representatives went ahead and named their leader speaker in one move. which the Democrats rejected.

There was applause when Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon entered the chamber to call the proceedings in accordance with state law. But the Democratic side of the House chamber was empty, and only Republicans answered “present” as a clerk took the role.

Simon announced that they had not reached the 68 members needed for a quorum, declared the chamber adjourned, and left.

But Republicans remained in their seats, saying that with 67 members present they had a quorum. They then voted to elect their top leader, former Minority Leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring, as speaker, a move Democrats immediately condemned as an “illegal sham without legal authority.”

“Make no mistake: The House was adjourned by Secretary of State Simon without a quorum. The actions of the representatives were illegal and Lisa Demuth is not the speaker,” the No. 2 House Democrat, former Majority Leader Jamie Long of Minneapolis, said on the X social platform.

Demuth pledged to “work tirelessly” to promote a “culture of respect and civility” in Parliament, but did not directly mention the boycott in his acceptance speech.

“We owe it to the people we represent to debate passionately, but we also owe them the respect to agree that sometimes we disagree,” she said. “So let’s focus on what unites us.”

Republicans adjourned the session until Wednesday.

What happens next was not immediately clear. The no. 2 Republican Leader, Rep. Harry Niska of Ramsey, told reporters the GOP was prepared for a legal challenge. He said that as a member of the executive branch, Simon is barred by the constitutional separation of powers from controlling the work of the House, and that he is confident that the Minnesota Supreme Court would agree, even if all of its justices were appointed by Democrats. governors.

The house came out of the election in November tied 67-67, and top leaders from both parties began drafting a power-sharing agreement that assumed a tie. But one judge at the end of last month declared that a newly elected Democrat did not live in his heavily Democratic district.

That gave the GOP a 67-66 majority until a special election can take place in two weeks. Republicans declared their intention to take full advantage until the tie is restored.

The GOP lost a round in the power struggle earlier Tuesday when another judge rejected a Republican effort force a special election in another race that incumbent Democratic Rep. Brad Tabke of Shakopee won by just 14 votes. Republicans had threatened to use their power to refuse to sit with him even if they lost the lawsuit.

The top House Democrat, former Speaker Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, indicated in a statement that the Tabke seat was the main disagreement she and Demuth could not resolve in negotiations Monday and Tuesday.

House Democrats held a secret swearing-in ceremony Sunday night to try to ensure Tabke and other members could take their seats, a move Republicans condemned.

“Democrats have no other option to protect the will of the voters than to deny a quorum,” Hortman said in his statement. “Democrats are united in our determination to fight the Republican effort to kick Representative Brad Tabke out of the Minnesota House. We cannot allow Republicans to engage in this unprecedented abuse of power, and we will use every tool at our disposal to to block it.”

Hortman had proposed a power-sharing agreement for the start of the session that would let Demuth become speaker, but then return to their original agreement, provided the special election restores a tie.

Under Minnesota law, the Secretary of State calls the House to order at the beginning of a session, declares whether a quorum is present, and delivers the gavel when a speaker is elected. It is usually a quick formality.

This is the first time the Minnesota legislature has faced such a boycott, but similar stalling tactics has been used elsewhere.

Democrats in neighboring Wisconsin went into hiding in 2011 in a battle with the majority Republicans over trade union rights for public servants. Oregon Republicans staged several times in recent years, including one record six-week walkout in 2023 over bills on abortion, gender-affirming care and gun rights. The top Democrat in the Michigan House last month, absentee members ordered back and barred the doors after a Democrat joined Republicans in storming out.

The high-stakes poker in the Minnesota House contrasts with the calm that prevailed Tuesday in the state Senate, which is tied 33-33. Democrats are expected to regain a 34-33 majority after a special election, also set for Jan. 28, to fill the seat of a senator who died last month. Unlike the House of Representatives, Senate leaders quietly reached a power-sharing deal that includes co-presiding officers from both parties, and their members ratified it on Tuesday.